NFL Draft Prospects: Dez Bryant, Wide Receiver, Oklahoma State

The college football season is over; withdrawals, depression, misery. Before you slip into an apathetic stupor for eight months, remember that the NFL Draft is just around the corner! From now until April's NFL Draft, I will be profiling some of the more interesting prospects. I can't promise that I'll get to your favorite player, but if you'd like to see a certain player profiled, and let us know.

Dez Bryant without question holds the most promise of any wide receiver in this year's draft. At 6-2, 220 pounds, you cannot help but think of Andre Johnson (6-3, 225) when you watch him play. He has the talent and physical tools to become a Johnson clone at the next level.

Bryant excels at finding the ball in the air and then going up to get it. His hands are superb and he has incredible strength; all of this making him an ideal target down in the red zone, just like Johnson.

His route running is a bit suspect and he spent his college career in a spread offense, so the question of how he will do with an NFL offense has come up. And unlike Johnson, who ran track for the University of Miami, Bryant's speed is a question mark. When it was announced over the weekend that Bryant would not be participating in drills at the Combine because of a hamstring injury, a lot of people were disappointed.

Bryant is expected to run the 40 on March 10 when Oklahoma State holds its pro day.

He could stand to get off the line a little faster, but there are few wide receivers of his size who are quicker or who make their cuts as well as Bryant. Some still worry about his ability to separate from faster cornerbacks in the NFL despite creating separation throughout his 2 1/3 seasons in Stillwater.

On that note, Bryant sat out the final 10 games of the 2009 season after it was found that he was not entirely truthful with NCAA officials regarding his relationship with Deion Sanders. It's not the most alarming off the field issue, but recent reports have begun to chip away at Bryant's image.

Yahoo! Sports' Jason Cole reports that several sources label Bryant as "consistently irresponsible." One source said he showed up late for games, while another reportedly remarked, "I wouldn't draft that kid unless I had someone to wake him up in the morning to get to meetings, someone to wake him up for practice and someone to wake him up for games."

Cole reports another source as saying, "Dez isn't evil, he's not trying to hurt anybody. He's just goofy. But it does make you think, 'If he's like this in college, what's it going to be like when he gets paid?'"

I've also seen reports describing Bryant as humble, which some would consider a refreshing, Johnson-esque change from the T.O.s and Ochocincos of the league. Bryant did complete interviews before leaving Indianapolis in advance of the wide receiver drills, which may prove very important in determining his professional home.

Even with all of the recent reports pegging Bryant as unreliable, Bryant will be picked in the first half of the first round. It's unlikely that he'll even fall past the 12th pick when the Miami Dolphins choose, although we'll know more after his workout on March 10.